Track: Love Love Love | Artist: After School | Album: Happy PLEDIS The First Album

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It’s still the holiday season, right? Right???

I’ve yet to encounter a song and music video that is as good-cheer-spreadable like After School’s 2010 end-of-year holiday track, Love Love Love. This Christmas-themed song is also a window back to a time before Pledis Entertainment’s current crop of artists like Seventeen, NU’EST and Pristin dominated the release schedule, to an era where After School were at their peak and still the top moneymakers at the company (along with Son Dam Bi). They hadn’t started bleeding members and album sales, and their sub-unit, Orange Caramel, had yet to fully find their footing.

Love Love Love was the title track to an album called Happy PLEDIS, which basically acted as a year-end victory lap for the group’s fans. A year later, the follow-up album—also called Happy PLEDIS—would grow more ambitious, showcasing not only After School but the entire Pledis roster of both existing and pre-debut artists with the title track Love Letter. Company fans would get glimpses of up and coming trainees, including members of NU’EST (who would debut the following year), Yoo Ara (soon to debut with Hello Venus), and Siyeon (who would finally debut under Pristin six years later).